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Queens Councilman Leaning Toward Comptroller Run

Councilman John C. Liu, Democrat of Queens. (Photo: Shannon Stapleton for the New York Times)

For the last year, City Councilman John C. Liu has made it clear that he wanted to run for citywide office at the end of his current term next year. But Mr. Liu, a Democrat from Queens, was consistently vague about whether he would run for comptroller or public advocate.

But in an interview this morning, Mr. Liu indicated that he was leaning toward undertaking a campaign to succeed William C. Thompson Jr., the city’s comptroller.

“I wouldn’t rule anything out, in terms of positions,” Mr. Liu said. “But I have a strong natural management background. And this is a very difficult time that the city is going through now. And to be honest, being able to contribute through the comptroller’s office is attractive to me.”

Before being elected to the Council in 2001, Mr. Liu worked as a financial analyst with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the giant professional services firm. The job of comptroller comes with a $176,000 salary, a $76 million budget, a $112 billion pension fund to invest and a staff of 700.

Should he run for comptroller, he would join an already crowded contest for the Democratic nomination. The other candidates are the Bronx borough president, Adolfo Carrión Jr., and three City Council members: Melinda R. Katz and David I. Weprin, both of Queens, and David Yassky of Brooklyn.

Assemblyman James F. Brennan announced on Wednesday that he was ending his campaign for comptroller.

While the other candidates long ago announced their intentions to run, Mr. Liu said he felt no need to declare his candidacy officially.

“I don’t believe it’s necessary to declare a candidacy more than a year out,” he said.

“Nonetheless, my effort to put together a citywide campaign continues,” he added. “The critical question is not the specific position on the ballot that I would be seeking. It’s more about organizing the grass-roots support, putting together the army of volunteers and completing the fund-raising that’s necessary in this day in age.”

Although he said he had not made a concrete decision, he has been raising money and has outpaced the other candidates for comptroller. As of the latest filing with the New York City Campaign Finance Board, in July, Mr. Liu has raised $3 million toward an unspecified 2009 campaign.

That compares with the $2.3 million raised by Mr. Carrión, $2.1 million raised by Ms. Katz, $1.8 million by Mr. Weprin and $1.3 million by Mr. Yassky.

However, Mr. Liu said that there was one thing that could alter his plans: the possible extension of the city’s term limit laws.

The debate over whether to expand term limits heated up a month ago, when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said that he would consider a bill to extend the time lawmakers can stay in office, after repeating for months that he would respect the will of voters.

Although the voters have approved a two-term limit for city officials in two referendums, the Council is considering voting to extend their terms, as well as those of the borough presidents and citywide officials.

“Being able to contribute by being in the comptroller’s office is attractive,” he said. “But running against Comptroller Thompson would not be attractive.”

Mr. Liu repeated his opposition to any plan by the Council to extend term limits.

Should the number of terms be extended, he said, “There will be a ripple effect all through the city elections next year. And everyone would have to rethink whatever plans they might have.”

Mr. Liu as comptroller, NO WAY. I live in Flushing, the area he represents. As a non-asian there is nothing for me in Flushing. If he was to win this position his main concern will be for his own. John Liu has made Flushing larger than Manhattans Chinatown. Again he only takes care of his own.

John Liu should do well as the comptroller and he has done a great deal for the Asian American Community and Flushing as a whole. A counter-question to Michele M: so we do not elect John Liu because he is an Asian American official in an Asian majority neighborhood, so you think we should not elect McCain because he is white in a country of White Majority?

What politician in this city and beyond, does not “take care of his(or her) own” at some fundamental level (or even not so fundamental: let’s not discuss how far we can go with that…McCainPalin et al)? To imply that John Liu is solely responsible for Flushing’s Asian and Asian American population being greater than that of NYC’s Chinatown is a sweepingly general, seemingly uninformed statement. On what do you base this claim?

As a non-white person, I have found myself in a lifetime full of situations in which there seems to have been nothing for me. As a non-white person, I had and have to continue planting my foothold in places dictated by overt as well as silent racism and rampant stereotypes; places that extend beyond my place of residence. If you don’t like Flushing because, as you imply, there’s nothing there for you among all those pesky people of Asian descent (without whom, by the way, you wouldn’t be riding the train or wearing decent clothing or doing much of anything else all of us Americans enjoy as a result of non-nationals immigrating here to cultivate their talents and dreams), then leave. If a person’s identity is insecure such that s/he feels so uncomfortable in an area populated by people who do not share his/her ethnic/cultural background, then that person would do well to follow his/her nose and go to the Upper East/West Side, the Bronx, or Brooklyn. Having been here for 20 years, I’ve surmised that that’s usually how it works in this mosaic of a city.

these career politicians just do not get it
first the people voted, not once but twice to term limits. that should be enough for anyone to understand – the people have spoken. but not a career politician. they keep going back to the well and try one more time to latch on to a comfortable city job.
when our country was first founded, elected officials were deemed to be statesman. individuals who looked at the elected job as a service to either the community, state or the nation. they did not look at it as a career. they had their businesses, farms or families to go home to. (they had a life outside of politics) the word statesman appear to be missing from our vocabulary now a days. and to see the current crop of elected officials trying to cling to these jobs after repeadidly being told – 2 terms and go home – makes me sick.
i say – let new blood come in to serve the city. that brings new ideas to the table.
i conclude by saying – send these people home. enough is enough. why should the president of the USA be held to two terms but not these characteres?

Michele M.: Are you serious? Your gravest complaint against Mr. Liu is that he *represents his constituency*? What a horrible, horrible thing for an elected official to do! How will our democracy continue to function if we vote in individuals who represent their communities?

[/sarcasm]

Perhaps you have been so blinded by Mr. Liu’s apparent bias toward his majority-Asian community that you don’t notice his efforts to clean up Flushing (which desperately needs it) as well as his campaign to increase the youth vote. Those are just two examples I thought of from the top of my head that aren’t “biased” toward his Asian constituency.

Wake up! We don’t live in a horse-and-buggy world anymore where elected officials return to their farms. It’s hard enough getting citizens to vote or serve on jury duty — let alone run for public office.

If anything, we should be applauding elected officials like John Liu (who left a lucrative career in business management) to become public servants. He would certainly be a good pick to lead our City in these times of economic uncertainty.

For those of you who understand the dynamics of Flushing, it is a very diverse community, and yes the Asian population is a large population in Flushing.

However it is not the population at large that we need to address when it comes to politics and John Liu. It is the needs of the people who live in the district that includes all the ethnic groups that reside in Flushing.

John Liu has made it a point to disregard individuals beyond his own political interest. He plays a good role in his appearance to support and represent the public. He is a good actor.

He should apply for a position as an actor. That is the greatest job for John C. Liu. He is a good fit for the job at photo up and a master of hipacritical political statements. He is a controling personality with the character of a dictator. He is controlling not a comptroller.

The women who follow him are either voiceless, or think they live in another generation where they have no voice.

He does a good job at appointing women who will follow his leadership with out defiance, for fear of punishment.

The position of Comptroller of the City of New York will be best represented by Melinda Katz.. A person who as a minority that being a woman, understands the true meaning of what to do to survive in these tough ecomomic times.
She has a true history of service to the public.

Respectfully,
Remember Hispanics are a population that should never be dismissed. Your Asian/ Black fusion is a interesting model. Again palying the race card to get elected.

Peaceful Demonstrators expelled from Council Member and comptroller candidate John Liu’s press release held on Sunday March 8 2009 at City Hall. Perhaps the protestors’ banner “John Liu Does not represent the interest of the people of USA” is accurate since freedom of expression is oppressed by John Liu’s camp/supporters.

t. Park, in fact we do live in a horse and buggy world since council member liu is supporting the corrupt and cruel horse and carriage industry and is sponsoring a bill to reduce oversight even though Comptroller Thompson confirms the suffering of the horses and lack of oversight. In fact thompson based on his audit findings support the ban on NYC horse drawn carriages. Both Weprin and Liu are disregarding all the animal org and other orgs such and NYC legal bar association and are supporting a bill to remove ASPCA and reduce oversight of the horses. Also they are supporting fraud since the carriage drivers are overcharging and not reporting income.

Michelle, Liu doen’t even represent this “own”, he has disregard videos of demonstrators attacked in Flushing. Liu had the highest asian ranking man in the police dept speak on his behalf. Liu is a dictator and look at his family background including his father who was convicted of bank fraud. As was true for Liu’s namesake, Liu is touched by the shadow of a father who strayed outside the law. In addition to renaming his sons John, Robert and Edward, the elder Liu went so far as to rename himself Joseph. He was an ambitious man who rose to become president of Great Eastern Bank, which served a predominantly Chinese clientele in Flushing. In 2001, as his son John was fighting a close race to win his first term in City Council, Joseph was convicted of bank fraud. While his son was enjoying the triumph of his career, Joseph served one month in prison and six months of home confinement. Today John Liu calls his father “a low-level bank clerk”.
New York Councilman John Liu’s relationship with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has come into question after he allegedly offered advice to members of an angry mob that attacked Falun Gong practitioners in Flushing recently.Liu is possibly the most promising politician supported by the CCP, and has indicated that he may run for mayor of New York City in 2009.

Aside from his lack of qualifications for the job, John Liu has made some questionable calls. Among them is his support of an anti-consumer bill that would cost the taxpayers money at the expense of a private questionable industry–the outdated and inhumane horse-drawn carriage industry. Liu’s support of Intro. 653-A is particularly troublesome given that he serves on the city’s council’s Consumer Affairs committee. It is this agency that has failed to do its job in overseeing the cash-only carriage industry, where overcharging FAR above and beyond the legally allowable fare is standard (as anyone can see on YouTube: Overcharging Tourists.) The drivers can be seen in a widely circulated video charging bogus fares and collecting sales tax. Online, markups of at least 400% the legal fare can be seen, along with “promotional” fares that include alcohol. That would seem to invite an investigation of an entirely different matter–liquor licenses.

Funny, Liu also serves on the Oversight and Investigations committee. The Bar Association of the City of New York thinks Intro. 653-A is a very bad idea,//www.nycbar.org/pdf/report/Comment653a.pdf
but I doubt that Liu has bothered to learn what is wrong with the industry or its self-promoting bill that would cost taxpayers money and support an industry that brings the city NO direct revenue–only constant headaches related to problem resolution.

I wonder if Liu–and David Weprin, another supporter of this rotten bill, are being paid off. Or are they just too ill-informed to understand the impropriety?

Either way, Liu is not the one to be handling city finances, and neither is Weprin.

thanks turthbeknow, this proves to be that people who abuse animals abuse people as well. Now I understand why Liu is supporting a bill to reduce oversight of the horses. Intro 653 is a death warrant for these poor horses. I was shocked that even after seeing the videos of the horses in inhumane conditions that Liu supported the bill. But now I read that he seen videos of demonstrators attacked in Flushing for their belief and has no done anything and in fact has treated them with contempt. Liu scored very low in both animal and human rights. look at the humane league scorecards and urban justice scorecards and he scores low in both. Shame.

Let me get this straight–a man who is sponsoring a bill (Intro 653-A) that rewards the shady horse-drawn carriage business by raising fares and taking away oversight from the ASPCA wants to handle my money? Another politician in the pocket of a special interest group? You bet.

John Liu, who is on the Consumer Affairs Committee at City Hall, has just come out in support of a bill to increase rates for the horse-drawn carriage drivers who illegally charge sales tax and overcharge their customers. It’s an all cash business that takes money from the city (manure clean up, licensing) but gives none back. The industry’s leader was recently convicted of two felony counts for bribing an undercover investigator posing as a City inspector. This is all public information. How are we supposed to have confidence in a politician who has just gone out on a limb to support crooks?

Councilmember Liu has announced his plans to run for comptroller, and yet he supports Intro 653-A, which rewards the horse-drawn carriage drivers who are blatantly overcharging tourists, evidence of which is clearly posted on their own websites! We don’t need another high-ranking official who is willing to support corruption.

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